Centuries of Theft

Centuries of Theft Infographic: Here are the numbers to answer the question “Why Reparations?”

Photo from Library of Congress

Just the Facts

A Nation Built on the Back of Slavery and Racism

YES&excl; infographic by Jeff Neumann and Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn Research by Heidi Bruce and Clo Copass

Why Reparations?

It began with 246 years of legal slavery in which we extracted wealth from the lives of African Americans. At the time of the Civil War, close to 4 million African Americans were enslaved, 13 percent of America’s total population. After the war, institutional injustices focused on stealing their land and jobs and ensuring that African Americans did not build wealth as fast as the rest of Americans. The economy we have today was built on this.

Slavery launched modern capitalism and turned the U.S. into the wealthiest country in the world.

In the cotton field A card from the series “The slave in 1863.” Library of Congress

Centuries of Theft

Advertising for purchase of slaves by Thomas Griggs, Charlestown, 7 May 1835. Library of Congress

Slaves wearing handcuffs and shackles passing the United States Capitol, around 1815. Library of Congress

Card showing African American slave being separated from wife and child, around 1863. Library of Congress

African American woman holding a white child, around 1855. Library of Congress

Postcard showing white man holding shotgun and dog, with African American men, women, and children, in cotton field, around 1908. Library of Congress

The bell rack, a contraption used by an Alabama slave owner to guard a runaway slave, was originally topped by a bell which rang when the runaway attempted to leave the road and go through foliage or trees. Shutterstock

Wilson Chinn, a branded slave from Louisiana exhibits a device used to punish slaves, around 1863. Library of Congress

Willis Winn (former slave) with horn with which slaves were called. Near Marshall, Texas, April, 1939. Library of Congress